An American in Paris (1951)

Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) is a struggling American painter living in Paris.  He finds a sponsor who is a classy dame that mostly just wants to get in his pants and is funding his passion so he will fall madly in love with her.  However, he falls madly in love with Lise.  She is a young french girl who is engaged to a cabaret singer, who happens to be Henri, one of his buddies.  In fact the two of them sing together often with Adam, a concert pianist who has never had a concert, playing and singing with them.  The last twenty minutes is an abstract ballet dream sequence in which Kelly choreographed the whole number.  

To me, An American in Paris is a great cinematic achievement.  I saw this movie for the first time when I was about eleven and I thought it was terrible.  I didn't get it.  The abstract qualities all seemed like bologna to me.  The last twenty minutes of the film are just dance.  Which now I totally appreciate.  It's an incredible sequence and the dancing is wonderful.  The leading lady, Lise was quite good but we'll be seeing more of her in Gigi.  Kelly has a way of wooing most people with his effortless dancing that doesn't take away his masculinity, like Fred Astaire, a flawless dancer who appears to be "light in the loafers"... if you catch my drift.  Singin' in the Rain, which wasn't even nominated, is more entertaining but An American in Paris is more artistic.  The songs don't really flow together to make a cohesive story but it's so charming.  He is SO charming.  Even when his character's an ass.  This is the first best picture winner that is in color since Gone with the Wind.  It's vibrant, chic atmosphere really takes this picture above and beyond.  His sponsor in the film, Milo (a very rich woman), wants to treat him to a swag lifestyle so she can get some action.  Her character is VERY Patricia O'Neil in Breakfast at Tiffany's where she tries to keep George Peppard, a penniless writer, as her "kept" man.  Kelly has too much honor for that.  He flat out tells her that he does not intend to pay her back... sexually.  But then when Lise turns him down, he goes back to the sponsor and leads her on.  Her plot line does not end so well...  As far as the other chick, Lise, goes, Kelly is working it to get with Lise but she wants nothing to do with him.  No small flirtation.  No witty banter.  She basically just hates him.  And he starts singing about how he's in love with her after five minutes...slow down crazy, slow down.  

An American in Paris is only the second musical film to win Best Picture as well as the second one in color. This film demonstrates that the musical has come a really long way since The Broadway Melody thanks to Gene Kelly’s irreplaceable charisma and charm. His dancing is so effortless and joyful, making for a screen presence that cannot be ignored. Leslie Caron also shines in her impressive film debut, as does Nina Foch as the ill-fated benefactor of Kelly that looks upon him more as a project than a person. Oscar Levant is also notable as Kelly’s pianist friend, who has several of the best quips in the film and is often able to demonstrate his truly virtuosic piano skills. One irrelevant but fascinating dream sequence reminiscent of Fantasia shows Levant playing a piano concerto in which he plays the part of everyone in the orchestra. The film gets many bonus points for having a score composed of George Gershwin’s music, despite the fact that several of the musical numbers are pretty silly and awkwardly squeezed into the film. The much-talked-about 18-minute closing ballet sequence is truly a marvelous sight to behold- it nearly feels that it was in these sequences that Kelly’s heart truly lied, and the films that surrounded them were made to appease producers into funding these visions. An American in Paris would have arguably been more powerful had it ended two minutes earlier and the musicals of the following decade would easily eclipse it, but it remains an important stepping stone of the medium and a film that is easy to appreciate.

After Arthur Freed and Ira Gershwin reached an agreement during their weekly pool game, film rights to George Gershwin's "An American in Paris - A Tone Poem for Orchestra" were purchased for $158,750, and Ira received $56,250 as a consultant to write any necessary new lyrics for songs used. 

Adam Cook: I'm a concert pianist. That's a pretentious way of saying I'm... unemployed at the moment.